Farm briefs 2-28

Thursday

Feb 28, 2013 at 5:00 AM

Ohio Holstein Assoc. to meet

The Ohio Holstein Association will hold its annual meeting and convention March 8-9 at Sidney.The convention will kick off with the Ohio Convention Sale to be held at 11 a.m. March 8 at the Shelby County Fairgrounds, 655 S. Highland Ave. The sale will feature approximately 80 head of outstanding registered Holsteins from well known herds in Ohio and surrounding states. There will be consignments with high genomics, show prospects of all ages, cows scored Very Good and Excellent, fresh cows, and bred heifers. Animals selling are from outstanding cow families, with many generations of Very Good and Excellent dams with high production and sired by the top bulls of the breed. There will be black and whites, red and whites, and polled consignments selling.

Activities following the sale include the queen's contest and luncheon at 1 p.m., a Holstein USA regional meeting from 5-6 p.m., queen contest at 7 p.m., with social gatherings for both juniors and adults to follow.

The March 9 events begin at 8 a.m. with the opening of the dairy bar, the Show Committee meeting, Ohio Holstein Women's Association annual meeting, Memorial Award interviews, Outstanding Junior Member interviews and the Resolutions Committee meeting. The Ohio Holstein Association annual meeting begins at 9 a.m. and the Ohio Juniors will meet at 9:30 a.m. The awards luncheon will be held at noon and the Ohio Holstein Women's fun auction will be held after the award presentations.

Hotel headquarters is the Sidney Inn and Conference Center, 400 Folkerth Ave.Mention the Ohio Holstein Association for the discount rate. Phone number is 1-866-905-4410.

OSU Extension Wayne County has set up testing dates with the Ohio Department of Agriculture to allow private and commercial applicators to obtain a pesticide applicators license. To obtain a license, applicators must take and pass a core exam plus one or more specific category exam(s). The cost of a private applicator license is $30 and a commercial applicator license is $35. Testing sessions will be administered by ODA personnel at the Fisher Auditorium conference room from 1-3 p.m. on: March 19, April 22.

There are a limited amount of spaces available for each testing session. Once the spaces are filled, the testing session is closed. Register to reserve a spot: online at: http://www.agri.ohio.gov/. Click on the link under Pesticide Regulation in the left-hand column, then under Exam Registration in the left-hand column on the next page. Reservations can also be made by calling the ODA, Pesticide Division at 800-282-1955, ext. 31.

Anyone taking an exam will be required to show photo identification or some form of identification.

Private applicators are encouraged to obtain study materials from the Wayne County Extension office before taking the exam. In addition, some study materials are available on-line. More information about study materials for private pesticide applicators can be found on-line at: http://pested.osu.edu/privatestudy.html .

Tri-County Beekeepers to hold spring workshop

The Tri-County Beekeepers Association of Northern Ohio will hold its 35th annual Spring Beekeeping Workshop March 1-2 at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center in Wooster. Educational classes are geared for beginners to experienced beekeepers.

New features have been added to the workshop. A tour of the OSU Pollinatarium will highlight Friday evening's schedule. This facility offers information about various pollinators in nature. Special class sessions will be held 7-8 p.m. Topics are "Beyond the Hive" with Isaac and Jayne Barnes and "Beginning Beekeeping" presented by the Central Ohio Beekeepers Association.

Keynote speaker on Saturday will be Jennifer Berry, coordinator of Apicultural Research, University of Georgia. Topic is "Practical Natural Beekeeping."

Workshop sessions include Planting for Pollinators, Small Hive Beetle, Making Salves and Lotions using Hive Products, Beginner Beekeeping and Urban Beekeeping, Cooking with Honey, kids' classes and more.

This year there will be no walk-in registrations. For more information, visit TCBA's new website: www.TriCounty Beekeepers.org. Email at contactus@TriCountyBeekeepers.org.

Holmes SWCD tree sale now under way

Take a look at your property or yard. Would you like to see more birds and wildlife? How about blossoms in spring and color in fall, or evergreens all year round? Or maybe you'd like to make a long-term investment by planting hardwoods.

The Holmes SWCD tree seedling sale is under way until March 22. This is a great way to buy nice quantities of seedlings at a very reasonable price.

Evergreens are sold in bundles of 25, and include Colorado blue spruce, Norway spruce, Scotch pine, Eastern white pine and Douglas fir. They sell for $20/pack, with the exception of Scotch pine, which is $10. With the exception of the Scotch pine, all of the evergreens are transplants, which means their root systems are bigger.

Tree pickup will be April 10 from 2-6 p.m. at the Holmes County Highway Garage.

Order forms and plant descriptions/recommended sites can be found online at http://co.holmes.oh.us/swcd, and follow the "document library" link, or call the SWCD office at 330-674-SWCD (7923) for an order form.

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